JP5397237B2 - Operation method of aseptic filling line - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention efficiently operates an aseptic filling line for aseptically filling various kinds of liquids (generally beverages) such as drinking water, fruit juice beverages, carbonated beverages, teas and coffees into plastic bottles such as PET bottles. Regarding the method.

  Plastic bottles are not only easy to mold and mass-produced, but are also used as liquid containers for various beverages because of their light weight. Among them, polyester bottles such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are used. The formed plastic bottle has excellent transparency and surface gloss, and also has impact resistance, rigidity, and gas barrier properties required for containers such as bottles, so it is widely used especially as a beverage container. Has been. Moreover, the heat resistance of recent polyester bottles is remarkably enhanced by heat setting.

In such plastic bottles, particularly polyester bottles, a method of aseptically filling various beverages has been widely employed (for example, see Patent Documents 1 to 3).
This aseptic filling method is to sterilize the bottle with a sterilizing liquid or hot water, then fill the bottle with a liquid content such as a beverage, and further seal the bottle with a cap. Performed in a sterile chamber maintained in

JP-A-10-287310 JP 7-291236 A JP-A-7-76324

  By the way, in the present situation where PET bottles filled with beverages are commercially available in large quantities, the speed of aseptic filling lines for carrying out the aseptic filling method as mentioned above has become mainstream, and each beverage manufacturer's production factory However, a high-speed aseptic filling line with a large number of treatments per unit time has been introduced.

  However, the aseptic filling process using a high-speed aseptic filling line is extremely productive when the number of commercially available beverages is small, but the number of beverages increases, and assorted beverages are aseptically filled into bottles. In such a case, there is a problem that the productivity becomes extremely low.

  That is, when changing the content liquid to be aseptically filled, the line is temporarily stopped, the inside of the chamber in which aseptic filling is performed is cleaned and sterilized, and then the type of the content liquid to be aseptically filled is changed. Accordingly, the type and amount of the sterilizing liquid are changed and then the line is restarted. However, the higher the speed of aseptic filling, the larger the chamber, and the larger the amount of sterilizing solution used for aseptic filling, the larger the amount of time and labor required for cleaning and heat sterilization. This is because the operation stop time of the line becomes extremely long. Incidentally, in a high-speed aseptic filling line having a processing capacity indicated by the number of bottles processed per minute of about 800 BPM, the operation stop time of the line when changing the setting is about 5 hours.

  At present, there are a wide variety of beverages such as water, various fruit juices, carbonated beverages, green tea, black tea, oolong tea, mixed tea, and coffee with milk. Is different. For this reason, under the current situation where the mainstream is high-mix and low-volume production, the high-speed aseptic filling line cannot be said to have high productivity, and its improvement is demanded.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for operating an aseptic filling line capable of efficiently aseptically filling a variety of content liquids (especially beverages) into plastic bottles.

According to the present invention, using an aseptic filling line equipped with an aseptic chamber, in an aseptic filling line operating method when aseptically filling a variety of content liquids into plastic bottles,
Use multiple aseptic filling lines for the set number of treatments,
For each type of content liquid, select one of the plurality of aseptic filling lines, and for the same type of content liquid, perform aseptic filling by continuously operating the selected aseptic filling line,
Operating the plurality of aseptic filling lines in parallel,
The number of the aseptic filling lines, the number of the contents liquids, and the selection of the aseptic filling lines for each kind of the contents liquid are set so that at least two kinds of contents liquids are aseptically filled in each aseptic filling line. A method for operating an aseptic filling line is provided.

In the operation method of the aseptic filling line of the present invention,
(1) Each of the aseptic chambers provided in the aseptic filling line includes a supply zone for the bottle, a sterilization zone for sterilizing the bottle with sterilizing liquid and / or hot water, a filling zone for content liquid, and A sealing zone with a cap is in place,
Aseptic filling line is used.

In the operation method of the aseptic filling line according to the present invention, a plurality of aseptic filling lines are used for the set number of processing, and aseptic filling is carried out into a plastic bottle with a plurality of kinds of content liquids. In addition to being operated, each aseptic filling line performs aseptic filling with respect to at least two kinds of content liquids. For this reason, compared with the case where the same number of content liquids are aseptically filled in the same number of bottles using a single high-speed aseptic filling line, the operation stop time required for changing the content liquid is greatly reduced. As a result, aseptic filling can be completed in a short time, and productivity can be greatly improved.
Such an improvement in productivity also contributes to a reduction in CO ₂ emissions, and is extremely useful from the viewpoint of environmental protection.

It is a figure which shows the typical arrangement | positioning of the aseptic filling line used for implementation of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operating state of this line when filling seven types of drinks AG with a predetermined number 500ml bottle using the high-speed aseptic filling line of 800BPM. It is a figure which shows the operating state of this line when using two 400 BPM high-speed aseptic filling lines according to this invention, and filling seven types of drinks AG with a predetermined number of 500 ml bottles.

  In the method of the present invention, a plurality of aseptic filling lines are used, and the structure itself is known. For example, each aseptic filling line has the structure shown in FIG.

  That is, in FIG. 1, the aseptic filling line indicated by 1 as a whole includes a chamber 10, and a bottle transport device extends in the chamber 10, in order from the inlet side to the outlet side of the chamber 10. The supply zone 11, the sterilization zone 13, the filling zone 15 and the sealing zone 17 are arranged so that the plastic bottles to be filled with the content liquid are successively introduced into and discharged from each zone in order by the transport device. It has become.

  The inside of the chamber 10 is called a so-called clean room, and the level is maintained at a clean level of about 10,000 by ventilation through a sterilization filter, sterilization processing of a wall surface or a transport device, or the like. Each zone may be partitioned from each other by a booth or the like.

  Polyester bottles are typical of plastic bottles that should be aseptically filled with the liquid contents. Polyolefin bottles such as polyethylene and polypropylene, and other plastic bottles are also known, but especially in terms of gas barrier properties and heat resistance. To polyester bottles are preferably used.

  The polyester bottle is typically made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), but may be made of other polyesters such as polybutylene terephthalate and polyethylene naphthalate. In addition, when the polyester bottle is exposed to a high temperature such as sterilization with hot water described later, it is preferable that the heat resistance of the polyester bottle is improved by heat fixation after molding or at the time of molding.

  Such a bottle is introduced into the supply zone 11 in the chamber 10 held in a clean state, held in an inverted state by the transfer device, and if necessary, the outer surface and the inner surface of the bottle are rinsed with hot water, It is conveyed to the sterilization zone 13.

In the sterilization zone 13, sterilization is performed with a sterilization liquid or hot water according to the type of content liquid filled in the bottle.
Typical examples of the sterilizing solution are hydrogen peroxide solution, aqueous peracetic acid solution, mixed solution of hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid, and aqueous solution of sodium hypochlorite. Moreover, as hot water, the temperature of 63 degreeC or more is normally used.

  For example, when filling bottles with drinking water such as mineral water, barley tea, hato barley tea, mixed tea mixed with many tea leaves, and beverages with milk (coffee, tea, etc.) Therefore, a mixed solution of hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid or an aqueous solution of sodium hypochlorite is adjusted to an appropriate concentration and used as a sterilizing solution. Moreover, when filling various fruit juices, the degree of sterilization may be moderate, and hydrogen peroxide solution or peracetic acid aqueous solution is usually used. Further, carbonated beverages, green tea, oolong tea, or coffee or tea without added milk has a low sterilization level and is sterilized with hot water.

  In addition, when sterilization as described above is performed using a sterilizing solution, the inside of the bottle is rinsed with warm water. Such rinsing is not necessary when sterilized with hot water.

  The rinsing and sterilization of the inner surface of the bottle is performed by inserting a liquid supply nozzle into the bottle and discharging the liquid from the nozzle.

  The bottle after sterilization is transported from the sterilization zone 13 to the filling zone 15, where the bottle is returned from the inverted state to the upright state by a known reversing device, and then the content liquid is supplied by the content liquid supply pipe. The bottle is filled.

  After filling the content liquid in the bottle, the bottle is transported to the sealing zone 17 in an upright state and sealed with a cap.

  The cap used for sealing is a separate line that has been sterilized with the same sterilizing solution as described above, and the sealing operation is performed according to the type of cap. For example, in the case of a cap that is screw-engaged with the mouth of the bottle, the cap is put on the mouth of the bottle filled with the content liquid with an appropriate jig, and sealing is performed by rotating in the closing direction in this state. Is called. Moreover, in the type of cap that is fitted and fixed to the container mouth portion, sealing is performed by striking the cap with the cap placed on the mouth portion of the bottle.

  After sealing with the cap, the outer surface of the bottle is appropriately washed by warm water washing or the like, then discharged from the chamber 10, dried as appropriate, and then sold as a product.

  When the aseptic filling of the content liquid is continuously performed as described above, and then the type of the content liquid is changed, the operation of the line 1 is stopped, and the sterilization treatment in the chamber 10 and the content liquid to be filled Changes (or changes in supply pipes and sterilization liquids associated therewith) are made. The sterilization treatment in the chamber 10 is performed by, for example, removing the content liquid remaining in the chamber 10 using a high sterilization liquid such as a mixed liquid of hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid or an aqueous solution of sodium hypochlorite, Subsequently, it is performed by rinsing the sterilizing liquid with warm water or the like, and at this time, it is preferable to idle the transport device. In addition, such sterilization processing when the operation is stopped may be performed for each zone in the chamber 10.

  After the operation of the aseptic filling line 1 is stopped and the sterilization process is completed as described above, this line is restarted, and the aseptic filling is performed for the content liquids of the next different varieties with the settings corresponding thereto. In this way, aseptic filling is performed for various varieties by repeating the line operation, operation stop (sterilization treatment), and re-operation for each type of content liquid to be aseptically filled.

  In the present invention, a plurality of aseptic filling lines having the above-described structure are arranged to aseptically fill a plurality of types of content liquids into plastic bottles (particularly polyester bottles).

  At this time, the capacity of the plastic bottle to be aseptically filled with the content liquid is not particularly limited. For example, it may be a large capacity bottle having a capacity of more than 1 liter, or a medium or small capacity bottle having a capacity of 1 liter or less. There may be. Although it is possible to change the capacity of the bottle in various ways, the sterilization conditions are different when the capacity of the bottle is changed, and even if the liquid contents are the same, the operation of the line is stopped and sterilization processing is required.

  Further, as the plurality of aseptic filling lines, lines having a processing capacity of 50% or less with respect to the set number of processing lines are used. In the present invention, since aseptic filling is performed for various types of content liquids (at least four or more), if an aseptic filling line with a high processing capacity is used, the operation stop time of the line for sterilization processing when changing the content liquid is reduced. This is because it becomes longer and the production efficiency is lowered.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, one of a plurality of aseptic filling lines is selected for each type of contents liquid to be aseptically filled, and the same aseptic filling line is continuously operated for the same contents liquid. Perform aseptic filling. This is because if the same content liquid is aseptically filled using a plurality of aseptic filling lines, the number of times the content liquid is exchanged increases, the total operation stop time becomes longer, and the production efficiency decreases.

  In addition, the number of aseptic filling lines to be used, the number of varieties of content liquids, and the selection of the aseptic filling line for each type of content liquid are such that at least two or more types of content liquids are aseptically filled in each aseptic filling line It is important to set. For example, when performing aseptic filling by operating two aseptic filling lines in parallel, select at least four types of content liquids, and set each type of aseptic filling to be performed aseptically. It is necessary to. If one aseptic filling line is set so that only one type of content liquid is aseptically filled, the overall balance is lacking and the other aseptic filling lines are still in operation even after the aseptic filling is completed on one aseptic filling line. This is because the working time is increased, the merit of operating a plurality of aseptic filling lines is reduced, and the production efficiency is lowered.

  The number of aseptic filling lines is determined by the factory installation space, etc., and the number of aseptic filling lines owned by each factory is usually 1 or more, especially about 1 to 4, and therefore generally Depending on the number of aseptic lines, the number of types of content liquid to be filled in the bottle is set so as to satisfy the above-described conditions. As the number increases, the number of times of changing the content liquid increases, and the advantage of using a plurality of aseptic filling lines with respect to the number of setting processes increases. That is, the drive stop time of the line required for exchanging the content liquid in one of the plurality of aseptic filling lines is shorter than that of the high-speed aseptic filling line. This is because aseptic filling can be completed in a shorter time compared to the case of using.

  For example, using a high-speed aseptic filling line of 800 BPM, production time for each beverage when filling a 500 ml bottle in one lot with the following types and number of beverages at 90% availability (ie, 720 BPM processing speed): Is calculated as follows.

<Estimation at 800 BPM aseptic filling line>
Beverage type Production number (number of fillings per lot) Production time A: Sports drink 1,200,000 27.8 hours B: Mixed tea 1,200,000 27.8 hours C: Green tea 600,000 13.9 hours D: Gas beverage 240,000 bottles 5.6 hours E: Fruit juice gas drinks 216,000 bottles 5.6 hours F: Fruit juice drinks 120,000 bottles 2.8 hours G: Milk coffee 120,000 bottles 2.8 hours

According to the above calculation results, the total production time of the beverages A to G is 86.3 hours, but when the beverage is replaced or when all the beverages are filled, as described above, In order to fill the next beverage, it is necessary to stop the operation of the line and perform sterilization in the chamber. For example, a high-speed aseptic filling line of 800 BPM has a very large installation space and a very large chamber. Therefore, the sterilization processing time is long, and it is necessary to stop the operation of the line for about 5 hours. Therefore, the actual time required to aseptically fill the above seven beverages is as follows:
121.3 hours (86.3 hours + 5 x 7 hours)
It takes about 5.05 days. The operating state of such a line is shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, a trial calculation of the production time when filling the bottles A to G in the same number as above with a 400 BPM aseptic filling line at an operation rate of 90% is as follows.

<Estimation with 400 BPM aseptic filling line>
Beverage type Production number (number of fillings per lot) Production time A: Sports drink 1,200,000 55.6 hours B: Mixed tea 1,200,000 55.6 hours C: Green tea 600,000 27.8 hours D: 240,000 bottles of gas drink 11.2 hours E: 216,000 bottles of gas juice juice 11.2 hours F: 120,000 bottles of juice drink 5.6 hours G: 120,000 bottles of milk coffee 5.6 hours

  According to the above calculation results, the total production time of the beverages A to G using one 400 BPM aseptic filling line is longer than that in the case of using the 800 BPM high-speed aseptic filling line. Accordingly, when two 400 BPM aseptic filling lines X and Y are used and the above seven kinds of beverages are distributed to the two lines X and Y for filling, the production efficiency can be greatly improved.

  For example, when the beverages A, C, and F are filled in the line X and the beverages B, D, E, and G are filled in the line Y, the operation state of each line is as shown in FIG. That is, the production time of beverages A, C, and F on line X is 88.9 hours, and the production time of beverages B, D, E, and G on line Y is 83.3 hours. The operation stop time for the sterilization process when the beverage is replaced is added to obtain the actual required time.

By the way, since the total installation space when the aseptic filling lines X and Y having a processing capacity of 400 BPM are arranged in parallel is smaller than that of the high-speed line, it is smaller than the installation space of one high-speed filling line. In addition to being a little bigger, the sterilization process when changing beverages can be quite short, and the operation stop time when changing beverages in the 800 BPM high-speed filling line is about 5 hours, The operation stop time at the time of beverage change in the 400 BPM aseptic filling line is about 4 hours. Accordingly, the actual time required for the lines X and Y is as follows.
Line X: 100.9 hours (88.9 hours + 4 x 3 hours; equivalent to 4.2 days)
Line Y: 99.3 hours (83.3 + 4 × 4 hours; equivalent to 4.15 days)

  Therefore, according to the present invention, when aseptic filling of seven types of beverages A to G is performed by simultaneously operating the aseptic filling lines X and Y of 400 BPM, the time required is 100.9 hours (equivalent to 4.2 days). Aseptic filling can be completed, and the required time can be shortened by about 20 hours with almost the same installation space as compared with the case where filling is performed using one 800 BPM high-speed aseptic filling line. When this is converted when aseptic filling is carried out for the above seven kinds of beverages throughout January and 1 year, when two 400 BPM aseptic filling lines are installed, one 800 BPM high-speed aseptic filling is performed. Compared to the case of using a line, monthly production of 150,000 cases (24 in one case), annual increase of 1,800,000 cases, about 16%, and carbon dioxide emissions are It will be understood that a reduction of about 27% per year is possible, and its productivity is significantly improved. In addition, these trial calculations are for the case where two aseptic filling lines are used in contrast to the case where the number of setting processes is one 800 BPM high-speed aseptic filling line. The productivity can be improved by using three or more aseptic filling lines.

  In addition, aseptic filling for all types of content liquids is completed (including shutdown time), multiple aseptic filling lines are operating at the same time, that is, filling all beverages in each line. Ideally, the time when the filling is completed is the same, but in reality, the set number of fillings for various beverages is different, so that there will be some deviation when filling for each line is completed. However, it is preferable to minimize such a deviation at the completion of filling.

  According to the present invention described above, a plurality of aseptic filling lines are used for the set number of processing, and a high-speed aseptic filling line is prepared by performing aseptic filling into bottles for various types of beverages by distributing to these lines. Compared to the case where it is used, the productivity can be remarkably improved while the line installation space is almost the same.

1: Aseptic filling line 10: Chamber 11: Supply zone 13: Sterilization zone 15: Filling zone 17: Sealing zone

Claims (2)

In the operation method of the aseptic filling line when aseptically filling a variety of content liquid plastic bottles using an aseptic filling line equipped with an aseptic chamber,
Use multiple aseptic filling lines for the set number of treatments,
For each type of content liquid, select one of the plurality of aseptic filling lines, and for the same type of content liquid, perform aseptic filling by continuously operating the selected aseptic filling line,
Operating the plurality of aseptic filling lines in parallel,
The number of the aseptic filling lines, the number of the contents liquids, and the selection of the aseptic filling lines for each kind of the contents liquid are set so that at least two kinds of contents liquids are aseptically filled in each aseptic filling line. The operation method of the aseptic filling line characterized by doing. Each of the aseptic chambers provided in the aseptic filling line has a bottle supply zone, a sterilization zone for sterilizing the bottle with sterilizing liquid and / or hot water, a filling zone for content liquid, and sealing with a cap. The operation method according to claim 1, wherein the zone is provided.

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